Equal Access

This issue of the Women’s College Magazine marks the launch our new scholarship campaign, Realise. The ambitious aim of the campaign is to enable more young women of academic potential access to College life by growing our scholarship capability over the long term. In 2021, a quarter of students in residence receive partial funding towards the costs of living at College and just 11% of total College fees are subsidised by scholarships. We would like to better this proportion so that by 2040, more than half our students can have access to financial assistance if they need it.

When you talk to our alumnae there is a common conviction that their experiences at Women’s College, surrounded by women who believed in themselves and in each other, gave them the confidence to realise their own potential. For all students, College is about having fun and making lifelong friendships, but it’s also fundamentally about aspiration and inspiration. Spending your university years with other women who want to make a difference to the world is a catalyst for life.

Six of our current donors to College who are also Women’s College alumnae came together for the photoshoot you see on the cover of the Magazine and enclosed donation brochure. They represent different generations of our active alumnae, as well as a range of backgrounds and professions. In asking them why they donate to College and what the Realise campaign might mean to them, a number of common threads were articulated which you can read about later in the Magazine.

Distinguished medical researcher Dr Janet McCredie AM reflected that, to her, Women’s College has always been a great melting pot for future professional women. She felt that through exposure to outstanding women in the community, through the pursuit of academic excellence, and by working for the good of the community, the College nurtures and inspires every generation of its students. For her, Realise represents specifically what College can do for disadvantage. In her own words, “having a generous scholarships scheme can give these students the chance of a lifetime.”

I hope you will consider supporting our Realise campaign by giving to our scholarships program. Our aspiration is threefold. First, for students of academic potential to be able to realise access to the Women’s College community, no matter their background or means. Secondly, it’s

about realising potential – academically, personally and professionally – through the transformative experience of living and studying at Women’s. And finally, it’s about empowering a group of women leaders who, armed with the Women’s College advantage, can help our broader communities realise further steps towards gender equality.

Spending your university years with other women who want to make a difference to the world is a catalyst for life.

DR TIFFANY DONNELLY Principal